Wait, aren’t they thugs (not saying you said this, but others did)? Jon Kinkaid called Tray a thief, and said he’s nothing more than that at base, and Richt should have kicked him off the team instantly.

I for one agree with what you and others are saying; I trust Richt (despite the media bullshit) to make strong discipline decisions. And no, I don’t want an all or nothing, one strike policy with our team.

But others on this blog sure do take a tough stance when someone isn’t about to wear red and black anymore. Wonder what they have to say about this.

I have no problem with this considering that the university reported it and they are being punished through the legal and justice system. Besides that, Richt knows if they have been remorseful and how they’ve responded since the incident, so I’m trusting him to make the call.

Do you think for a moment ole Steve at SC would let the President or AD hand him a policy like this? Ole Steve went on TV and told the president to LOWER the ADMISSION STANDARDS. And after a couple days of heat, guess what happened. Would Saban have time for this shit?

Do you think the new president or McFrugal would tell Coach Richt that they wouldn’t budge if CMR went on TV and said they needed to level drug testing playing field at the SEC’s lowest standard?

That’s nice and all but it doesn’t explain the hypocrisy behind someone getting suspended for eating pot brownies but someone else not getting suspended for stealing. Stealing can be a habit too.

I do agree with you though that we can stop blaming Adams for things. The guy’s been gone for a year. Not to mention that he was just running things the way the Board of Regents wanted them run in the first place.

At this point I think we can stop blaming/ crediting our drug policy on Adams and place it at Richt’s feet.

It was always Richt’s policy. Tried to make that point the other day. The school policy came in 2006. Richt put his week policy in as soon as he got here, in 2001. The school policy is just borrowed from Richt himself.

It is a misdemeanor, same as the crimes Taylor and Deloach are accused of committing. Point is the inconsistency of suspending players for one misdemeanor and not for another, especially when the other crime directly affects others. The Georgia student handbook provides automatic suspensions for mj and alcohol offenses but does not require suspensions for cheating or even assaulting professors in class. While I have no doubt Richt would suspend a player who assaulted a professor the weird thing is he has discretion whether to do that while he has no such discretion when a kid takes a toke when passed a joint at a party.

Yes, and why wouldn’t he? The weed/alcohol policy was his to begin with. The Adams credit for shoving it down the football program has always been wrong. It was always Richt, and I suspect he was involved in the whole thing in 2005-6, not just the weed/alcohol part of it. Or they at least consulted him about it.

Adams just took political credit for it, some 5 years after Richt had already implemented it. The whole policy smacks of Richt, that’s for sure.
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I think they got this one right. The university let this go through the legal system. I would assume Coach Richt has let DeLoach and Taylor know they are on double secret probation this summer. All 4 get a chance to wipe their records clean similar to anyone else who had a similar run-in with the law.

I may not have made my point clearly. My point is that I think this is a reasonable response given the court’s decision regarding pre-trial intervention. I trust Richt made the right decision not to suspend based on facts and circumstances we will likely never know. I also believe Matthews would also still be on the team and would have received the same internal punishment if he had not behaved in class the way he did. Since the university was the “victim” of this action, I expect Richt had to consult with multiple people inside the university on the response. The last thing we wanted this to become is an NCAA investigation related to illegal benefits and the “loss of institutional control.” The easy decision would have been to kick all 4 of them out immediately. I compare this to the response to Marshall Morgan’s legal troubles at Lake Sinclair last summer. Richt was right to suspend him for the 2 games even though it put us at risk to lose meaningful games.

In a motel room somewhere, as my paranoia deepened I became convinced that I had died and no one was telling me because I couldn’t even remember which of our players supposedly ate a pot laced brownie but if had to take a guess I bet it was a DB

Why should we feel stupid for punishing kids for breaking the law. If the law changes that is one thing but they know that law and it applies to them. Thinking you are above the law or rules is a big part of the the problem with players who have discipline issues.

Mett and Marshall went to junior college first. We couldn’t do a darn thing about their decision to go to LSU and Auburn. I do think the SEC should issue a rule that no team can sign a player kicked out of another SEC school unless the player goes to junior college first.

When you are the victim you have a little more flexibility than you would otherwise. If they had stolen from teammates or other students, there would be suspensions. The athletic department was the victim here. If it’s satisfied then it’s satisfied.

I am satisfied that we have learned some Bama like disciplinary policies. Mark Richt is charged to win games. We expect the team to win. If Mark Richt is who I expect he is, these guys will pay dearly for their chance, without public display of their penance.

I’ll have to do as Mac and Grav appear to be indisposed. This marks a change in the so-called policy of punishing the team, the students, the fans and the University when players do something that requires discipline. Thank you CMR for returning sanity to discipline of players. When someone does something that they should not have done, punish that player internally. Run him until he pukes his guts out. Make him clean the stalls in Sanford. But keeping him from playing only plays into the hands of the Spurriers of the world. In spite of the opinions expressed by some on this thread the fact that this chance occurred after Ole Mikey left speaks volumns. Now that he is gone maybe the University will take its foot off the program’s neck.

Mark Richt is in a no win situation. He suspends guys and he is criticized. He kick them off the team and he is criticized. He finally cuts two guys a break that committed a misdemeanor and were treated as first offenders. They had never caused anybody any trouble as far as we know and you guessed it he is criticized. The UGA fan base and the media are so full of sh8t their collective breaths stink. Get off the man’s butt how bout.

I think they received court ordered punishment. $300.00 fine and 40 hrs. Community service. Plus whatever running and gassers they’ll get at practice. Failing a drug test does not go through the courts. Thus, punishment is mandated from the University. I’m OK with it.

I trust Coach Richt with his punishment. I think he does what he can to build character. I think the two young men who stayed will be better men because of playing for him. I think Tray could not learn his lesson here.

It is still against NCAA policy to use pot so they have to follow NCAA policy.

Bloviation for the Dawgnation

Quote Of The Day

“It brings back a great Bulldog running back in Thomas who has NFL playing experience and has had success as a college coach at multiple schools. He also inherits a position that has been built to an elite level by Bryan. And it gives Bryan the opportunity to return to coaching the position he played and the one where he cut his teeth serving as a graduate assistant under wide receiver coach John Eason here at UGA. It also provides him with a new experience as a passing game coordinator.” -- Mark Richt, AB-H, 2/16/15